Free To Honor and To Protect by Debra Webb

needed even this small shield between them or he couldn’t be responsible for the fallout. He wanted to hold her nearly as much as he wanted to keep breathing. “I’ll be back in twenty.”
    “All right.” She turned around, heading back into the cabin.
    He couldn’t take his eyes off the soft swing of her hips as she strolled away. He couldn’t pull his mind back from the days when she’d welcomed his touch, when they’d held hands and talked about their hopes for the future.
    “Hey,” he called out.
    She paused, glancing back over her shoulder.
    “You didn’t go the legal aid route. To the JAG office,” he added at her blank look.
    “They have no jurisdiction over Craig’s dealings.”
    “No. Back then.”
    “Oh. A lot of things changed after...” She reached for her necklace.
    The unspoken words were rattling through his mind. He knew she blamed him. He shouldered that old responsibility along with the new ones heaped on him by Director Casey. Trudging down the rickety steps while Addison ducked inside, he put his mind into guard-and-protect mode. No sense dwelling on what he couldn’t have.
    When he’d gone out to San Francisco and seen her with the man and boy, he’d known the fantasy that had carried him through his days as a prisoner was just that—fantasy. He didn’t regret those fantasies; he’d just struggled to find his purpose without the army’s guidance or Addison’s support.
    The youth center in his old neighborhood was up and running now, the renovation time shortened by his absolute lack of distraction. Absolute lack of a personal life. Drew checked the boat, pleased to find his gear still tied in place. Above him, he heard the muted voices of mother and son, and another flare of jealousy scorched his already raw heart.
    “Focus,” he muttered. He might be the only man on Earth able to find Addi, and that made him the only man who could keep her alive. He could radio his position to Casey’s team or switch on one of the transmitters, but it would be one more thing on her list of unforgivables. Drew didn’t want that. For either of them.
    Coming in at dusk, watching and waiting until full dark to make his presence known, he hadn’t been able to set much beyond the cursory alerts around the area. A calculated risk, but he’d been extremely cautious as he’d made a circuitous way through the bayou to Mama Leonie’s famous shack.
    Walking quietly along the water’s edge, he kept an eye out for alligators or the more vicious human predators. He scanned the trees, keeping a careful mental record of where and when the shack was in view. He had a few dreamworthy gadgets from Casey’s department, but he wasn’t willing to blow them all at once. He wanted to give her protection without leaving a road map for Everett’s connections. Anyone who could successfully stage an escape and avoid recapture for this long was undeniably dangerous.
    Addison might think she was okay out here, she might believe Everett wouldn’t bother beyond a cursory search of her hometown in Mississippi, but Casey felt differently. Making a home in the bayou, off the radar, wouldn’t be enough for someone determined to silence her. One day someone or something would slip and then all hell would break loose.
    From what he understood, turning Everett in messed with the money and plans of several high-level bad guys. Although he admired her integrity and courage, she’d put a nice bright target on her head that wouldn’t fade anytime soon.
    Looking around, Drew had to side with Casey on this one. Although there was no connection between Addison and Mama Leonie’s swamp home, it wasn’t impossible to find this place. It might lack any evidence of civilization at first glance, but it wasn’t far enough from the marked trails the professional guides used. Drew thought she was underestimating Everett as well as the local fascination with this place. He bent down, noting the size and shape of footprints that